Lex Specialis

Great work and confirms what we have known. I suspect that DACA apps are being given priority because frankly there is a bigger lobby for their processing. US K-1ers are by nature temporary and our interest in them drops off (for most of us) as soon as it is processed. Not enough time to organize an interest group, which is why we get screwed. Same how 18-21 year olds can't form an advocacy group to lower the drinking age limit to combat MADD. They have maybe one election during that period to make their voices heard and as soon as they are old enough to realize how to organize, they are no longer pissed off about not being let into clubs because of age because they have turned 21.

What country is she is a citizen of if she is getting Spanish citizenship soon? Where was she born? To recap, she shouldn't overstay if she will go back. If she overstays and you don't get married, she will be denied entry even if from a country that is eligible for a visa waiver, so she will need to obtain a tourist visa. If she travels frequently to the US, this is an unnecessary hindrance. If she overstays and you get married, you will need to file an I-130 plus AOS but it shouldn't be a problem unless she gets picked up by Immigration before you guys get your green card (low likelihood but possible). If she leaves and then comes back on a tourist visa with the intent to get married, she is committing visa fraud which will compound the USCIS' skepticism when you file for her green card because you married someone here on a tourist visa within 90 days, and you previously sponsored her for a K-1 but decided not to marry.

On a personal note, as someone who is engaged to be married, and someone who has gone through a divorce, I married my first wife because we were good couple as boyfriend and girlfriend, we were both of marrying age and the finances for us seemed to make sense, but I honestly couldn't see myself growing old with her. Not before we married, not after. That this ended in divorce is no surprise at all. With my current fiancee I could picture our future children by the end of the first week I kissed her. There may have been more convenient or less convenient times to marry her in our lives, but there could never be a wrong time for it. If your relationship is closer to the first example, I would advise you both to walk away before you invest more into this and make your lives more miserable. If it's closer to my second, I would say get married because if she is the right person you will figure it out as long as you are together no matter what the obstacles. If you feel like marrying her will somehow set you back or prevent you from doing something in your life, it's a red flag.

Unfortunately some times you will get that. I got the same brush off from Dianne Feinstein's office when mine was pending, but Barbara Boxer's staff was much better.

I would try calling Cornyn's people since you are not likely to get another staffer at Cruz's office except the one you are dealing with. And keep in mind, you probably have a bunch of Tea Partiers who are doing Cruz's case work. While I wouldn't swear my name to it, I wouldn't be surprised if they are less than thrilled to bring another foreigner into the country more quickly. If you know anything about Benghazi though, I am sure you would go to the front of the line

Buddy first of all I am sorry. Second of all, I will tell you something you will NOT believe - you are actually lucky for a number of reasons, hard as it is to believe. # 1) There are many women who are much smarter than your ex because they would have made false allegations to the Police, not just to the CIS or a non profit, to substantiate their VAWA self petition better and the cops would have come and arrested you on her say so. The fact that you didn't go through that is a MAJOR plus for you. Believe me, it happens every day. Secondly, you have custody of your child... as a father... in America. Another big plus.
So now for the bad news. I know you want to get back at this woman for using you. Unfortunately, no one in our immigration system cares enough not to let this woman in, and the law is written to help her not you. Even if they put her in removal proceedings, she will just tell her weepy false story about what a monster you are to the Immigration Judge, who may or may not believe it, and even if the judge doesn't, it will be YEARS before she is removed. Chances are she will find another guy to marry her in the meantime and she will try to stay on the ground that your child, who is a US citizen, needs his mom and she should not be removed. As you have discovered, the system is designed to help her against all real and fictitious abusers and not you from being slandered as a wife beater or to be taken advantage of.
If I were you, and then again I am not so you have to choose for yourself, but I would do two things. I would let this go because you need to be a single dad which is challenging enough and you need to press the reset button on all this baggage this sociopath of a woman has caused you. She clearly never loved you and I am sure she was telling the other guy God knows what, maybe that your baby is his, or that she will sponsor him as soon as she has US citizenship, that she is suffering you just so they can be together in America. And chances are 100% of that was BS. If you are not a sociopath, you can't beat her at her own game, and you will go insane trying. Secondly, if you are the custodial parent, I would hit her with a child support order. It's good for your kid, and it is a measure of revenge. if she falls behind on payments and the CIS or the IJ actually look into this case, it will go some way to show that she is not the poor little abused victim if you have custody of the child and she is not living up to her parental responsibility. But beyond that, I would let it go. You should thank God, your lucky stars, or whatever Supreme Being you believe in, that you were taught a lesson to be more skeptical of people's motives without seeing the inside of a jail cell (I can't emphasize how real of a possibility this was for you, especially given her complete lack of a moral center. Good thing for you she is not smarter), that your child is with you, and that you can live life without her. Worrying ever day if your wife is sending naked pictures to some other guy on a daily basis is not the kind of emotional abuse anyone deserves to live under. I hope this helps.

@Mimolicious: you go ahead and report whatever you want, I will respond by going on with my life and adding you to the ignore list. This is the third or fourth time you are trying to flame me in threads off topic and I for one would appreciate some moderator input on it.

Cheating having occurred before the AOS interview doesn't meant that the marriage wasn't real especially since it was the US citizen spouse, not the foreign national who committed such acts. They have children together, they are having trouble in their relationship, life goes on. And it's every spouse's right to end their divorce when they see fit.
To the OP, I hope these posts have given you an idea of the position that you find yourself in and the options that are available to you.

What country is she is a citizen of if she is getting Spanish citizenship soon? Where was she born? To recap, she shouldn't overstay if she will go back. If she overstays and you don't get married, she will be denied entry even if from a country that is eligible for a visa waiver, so she will need to obtain a tourist visa. If she travels frequently to the US, this is an unnecessary hindrance. If she overstays and you get married, you will need to file an I-130 plus AOS but it shouldn't be a problem unless she gets picked up by Immigration before you guys get your green card (low likelihood but possible). If she leaves and then comes back on a tourist visa with the intent to get married, she is committing visa fraud which will compound the USCIS' skepticism when you file for her green card because you married someone here on a tourist visa within 90 days, and you previously sponsored her for a K-1 but decided not to marry.

On a personal note, as someone who is engaged to be married, and someone who has gone through a divorce, I married my first wife because we were good couple as boyfriend and girlfriend, we were both of marrying age and the finances for us seemed to make sense, but I honestly couldn't see myself growing old with her. Not before we married, not after. That this ended in divorce is no surprise at all. With my current fiancee I could picture our future children by the end of the first week I kissed her. There may have been more convenient or less convenient times to marry her in our lives, but there could never be a wrong time for it. If your relationship is closer to the first example, I would advise you both to walk away before you invest more into this and make your lives more miserable. If it's closer to my second, I would say get married because if she is the right person you will figure it out as long as you are together no matter what the obstacles. If you feel like marrying her will somehow set you back or prevent you from doing something in your life, it's a red flag.

Financial situation is not your issue. Your husband has given an affidavit of support to the US government and will be on the hook if you become a public charge even after you divorce. Proving that your marriage was entered into in good faith is because you divorce before the conditions are removed. So if you have kids, joint assets, etc. this will be important to your application, not your employment status.

What country is she is a citizen of if she is getting Spanish citizenship soon? Where was she born? To recap, she shouldn't overstay if she will go back. If she overstays and you don't get married, she will be denied entry even if from a country that is eligible for a visa waiver, so she will need to obtain a tourist visa. If she travels frequently to the US, this is an unnecessary hindrance. If she overstays and you get married, you will need to file an I-130 plus AOS but it shouldn't be a problem unless she gets picked up by Immigration before you guys get your green card (low likelihood but possible). If she leaves and then comes back on a tourist visa with the intent to get married, she is committing visa fraud which will compound the USCIS' skepticism when you file for her green card because you married someone here on a tourist visa within 90 days, and you previously sponsored her for a K-1 but decided not to marry.

On a personal note, as someone who is engaged to be married, and someone who has gone through a divorce, I married my first wife because we were good couple as boyfriend and girlfriend, we were both of marrying age and the finances for us seemed to make sense, but I honestly couldn't see myself growing old with her. Not before we married, not after. That this ended in divorce is no surprise at all. With my current fiancee I could picture our future children by the end of the first week I kissed her. There may have been more convenient or less convenient times to marry her in our lives, but there could never be a wrong time for it. If your relationship is closer to the first example, I would advise you both to walk away before you invest more into this and make your lives more miserable. If it's closer to my second, I would say get married because if she is the right person you will figure it out as long as you are together no matter what the obstacles. If you feel like marrying her will somehow set you back or prevent you from doing something in your life, it's a red flag.

Buddy first of all I am sorry. Second of all, I will tell you something you will NOT believe - you are actually lucky for a number of reasons, hard as it is to believe. # 1) There are many women who are much smarter than your ex because they would have made false allegations to the Police, not just to the CIS or a non profit, to substantiate their VAWA self petition better and the cops would have come and arrested you on her say so. The fact that you didn't go through that is a MAJOR plus for you. Believe me, it happens every day. Secondly, you have custody of your child... as a father... in America. Another big plus.
So now for the bad news. I know you want to get back at this woman for using you. Unfortunately, no one in our immigration system cares enough not to let this woman in, and the law is written to help her not you. Even if they put her in removal proceedings, she will just tell her weepy false story about what a monster you are to the Immigration Judge, who may or may not believe it, and even if the judge doesn't, it will be YEARS before she is removed. Chances are she will find another guy to marry her in the meantime and she will try to stay on the ground that your child, who is a US citizen, needs his mom and she should not be removed. As you have discovered, the system is designed to help her against all real and fictitious abusers and not you from being slandered as a wife beater or to be taken advantage of.
If I were you, and then again I am not so you have to choose for yourself, but I would do two things. I would let this go because you need to be a single dad which is challenging enough and you need to press the reset button on all this baggage this sociopath of a woman has caused you. She clearly never loved you and I am sure she was telling the other guy God knows what, maybe that your baby is his, or that she will sponsor him as soon as she has US citizenship, that she is suffering you just so they can be together in America. And chances are 100% of that was BS. If you are not a sociopath, you can't beat her at her own game, and you will go insane trying. Secondly, if you are the custodial parent, I would hit her with a child support order. It's good for your kid, and it is a measure of revenge. if she falls behind on payments and the CIS or the IJ actually look into this case, it will go some way to show that she is not the poor little abused victim if you have custody of the child and she is not living up to her parental responsibility. But beyond that, I would let it go. You should thank God, your lucky stars, or whatever Supreme Being you believe in, that you were taught a lesson to be more skeptical of people's motives without seeing the inside of a jail cell (I can't emphasize how real of a possibility this was for you, especially given her complete lack of a moral center. Good thing for you she is not smarter), that your child is with you, and that you can live life without her. Worrying ever day if your wife is sending naked pictures to some other guy on a daily basis is not the kind of emotional abuse anyone deserves to live under. I hope this helps.

Buddy first of all I am sorry. Second of all, I will tell you something you will NOT believe - you are actually lucky for a number of reasons, hard as it is to believe. # 1) There are many women who are much smarter than your ex because they would have made false allegations to the Police, not just to the CIS or a non profit, to substantiate their VAWA self petition better and the cops would have come and arrested you on her say so. The fact that you didn't go through that is a MAJOR plus for you. Believe me, it happens every day. Secondly, you have custody of your child... as a father... in America. Another big plus.
So now for the bad news. I know you want to get back at this woman for using you. Unfortunately, no one in our immigration system cares enough not to let this woman in, and the law is written to help her not you. Even if they put her in removal proceedings, she will just tell her weepy false story about what a monster you are to the Immigration Judge, who may or may not believe it, and even if the judge doesn't, it will be YEARS before she is removed. Chances are she will find another guy to marry her in the meantime and she will try to stay on the ground that your child, who is a US citizen, needs his mom and she should not be removed. As you have discovered, the system is designed to help her against all real and fictitious abusers and not you from being slandered as a wife beater or to be taken advantage of.
If I were you, and then again I am not so you have to choose for yourself, but I would do two things. I would let this go because you need to be a single dad which is challenging enough and you need to press the reset button on all this baggage this sociopath of a woman has caused you. She clearly never loved you and I am sure she was telling the other guy God knows what, maybe that your baby is his, or that she will sponsor him as soon as she has US citizenship, that she is suffering you just so they can be together in America. And chances are 100% of that was BS. If you are not a sociopath, you can't beat her at her own game, and you will go insane trying. Secondly, if you are the custodial parent, I would hit her with a child support order. It's good for your kid, and it is a measure of revenge. if she falls behind on payments and the CIS or the IJ actually look into this case, it will go some way to show that she is not the poor little abused victim if you have custody of the child and she is not living up to her parental responsibility. But beyond that, I would let it go. You should thank God, your lucky stars, or whatever Supreme Being you believe in, that you were taught a lesson to be more skeptical of people's motives without seeing the inside of a jail cell (I can't emphasize how real of a possibility this was for you, especially given her complete lack of a moral center. Good thing for you she is not smarter), that your child is with you, and that you can live life without her. Worrying ever day if your wife is sending naked pictures to some other guy on a daily basis is not the kind of emotional abuse anyone deserves to live under. I hope this helps.

Someone who has a K-1 approved telling people who are waiting in line for longer than he/she did to relax is like Marie Antoinette telling hungry Parisians to eat cake. Well intended but hardly useful advice.

Someone who has a K-1 approved telling people who are waiting in line for longer than he/she did to relax is like Marie Antoinette telling hungry Parisians to eat cake. Well intended but hardly useful advice.

Someone who has a K-1 approved telling people who are waiting in line for longer than he/she did to relax is like Marie Antoinette telling hungry Parisians to eat cake. Well intended but hardly useful advice.

Someone who has a K-1 approved telling people who are waiting in line for longer than he/she did to relax is like Marie Antoinette telling hungry Parisians to eat cake. Well intended but hardly useful advice.

Someone who has a K-1 approved telling people who are waiting in line for longer than he/she did to relax is like Marie Antoinette telling hungry Parisians to eat cake. Well intended but hardly useful advice.

Someone who has a K-1 approved telling people who are waiting in line for longer than he/she did to relax is like Marie Antoinette telling hungry Parisians to eat cake. Well intended but hardly useful advice.

Someone who has a K-1 approved telling people who are waiting in line for longer than he/she did to relax is like Marie Antoinette telling hungry Parisians to eat cake. Well intended but hardly useful advice.

You can sue the USCIS director and the DHS Secretary in federal courts pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act in order to compel them to give you an answer. However, given the backlog of our federal courts, by the time you get to the Rule 26 Conference, you will have received the I-129F twice over. It is an expensive and impractical route in this case.

It just occurred to me why the USCIS is processing Nov and Dec. After all, if you process July and August now, you only extend your avg processing time. meanwhile, you bang out the Dec ones, and you bring the average processing time down from 7.5 months closer to 5. Then when Congresspeople are getting on your case about processing backlog, you say "what processing back log?" I am sure your constituent has a hang up in his app and we'll get to it as soon as possible.

If you are divorced, you eligible to get your Green Card after 5 years of residence so at best they can deny you now. If at the time you applied for the benefit you were living and married to your spouse then you were eligible for the three year requirement. I would infopass it first at your local USCIS office. You can schedule the infopass on the website. They will blow you off at the front counter, so ask to speak to a supervisor and explain to him/her that your citizenship application is pending outside the normal processing times and you need to make an inquiry. They have been known to help then.
your next step is contacting the USCIS Ombudsman through their website because they can help when you are outside the processing times. Lastly, you can write your Congressperson regarding the situation. I don't see that you need to provide any information regarding your application when you ask. You are simply asking for status.
Worse comes to worse, you can reapply 90 days before the expiration of the 5 year period. It could have been lost through the cracks (not the first time, believe you me) or it could be a more complicated Natz application if you have some answers that you checked off as yes regarding criminal history (or perhaps their background check on you came up with some stuff if you have a similarly named person, or a fellow Moroccan with a similar name is on a no-fly list or a person of interest for our intelligence services - this has been a big issue for men under 35 who are nationals of Middle Eastern countries or Muslim nations in South and Southeast Asia), or you checked off any of the political activities questions and other matters relating to moral turpitude, willingness to serve this country, etc.

Hi folks, today I submitted a request to my Congressperson in order to get assistance with the USCIS over my pending petition for my fiancee's K-1 visa. If you plan on doing the same, but don't have the time to write a letter, I am going to post mine as a sample. Feel free to edit, add or take away whatever you wish. Hope this is helpful.
Dear Representative ********:
I am a registered voter and a resident in your district and I am writing to ask for your help in contacting a federal agency, specifically the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). I have filed a petition for a K-1 visa on behalf of my fiancée, a foreign national, so that we may get married here in the United States. The petition, a copy of the receipt of which is attached to this letter, has been pending since ********* 2012.
The USCIS states that its goal is to process visa petitions within five (5) months of receipt. The application has been pending for more than that time. Once cases are outside processing times, the ordinary recourse for a person such as myself is to contact the USCIS Ombudsman. The “processing times” are posted on the agency’s website, which indicates that the processing times charts are updated “on or about the 15th of each month”. I am enclosing a copy the relevant processing time chart which indicates that it has not been updated since February 5, 2013. You will note that the last posting contained data for petitions and applications only up to December 31, 2012.
Because the USCIS has not updated its charts with data for the entire calendar year, the “processing times” have not moved. As a result, citizens such as myself cannot obtain assistance from the USCIS Ombudsman because by violating its own deadlines and procedures, the USCIS artificially makes it appear as though my petition is not outside normal time frames for processing these applications.
I have attempted to call the USCIS customer number and the officers have refused to provide any additional information besides what is on the website. They have been extremely rude, unhelpful and unprofessional. I understand that with President Obama’s Executive Orders authorizing the DACA program and the Provisional Waiver program, the USCIS has been flooded with applications by undocumented workers who have applied for this benefit. However, those applications have brought in extra revenue to the agency which should have been allocated to hire more officers to process the workload. As an agency that is almost entirely self funded through fees, the USCIS is not affected by the nation’s current fiscal issues, be it the sequester or other budget cuts.
While I respect and support the President’s initiatives for undocumented workers, it is outrageous that the USCIS is processing those applications, for people who are already in the United States, ahead of the applications submitted by United States citizens who are trying to legally bring their future spouses to the United States, and must necessarily remain separated from their loved ones for several months at a time during their pendency.
The K-1 fiancée visa was always intended to be an expeditious petition, and it appears that the USCIS has put them in the low priority category. In order to mitigate the strain that the long separation is placing on our relationship with my fiancée, I have had to take extensive time off work in order to travel abroad (my fiancée is not eligible to visit me in the US while the fiancée visa is pending) and as a result have incurred considerable expenses in traveling and time off work, not to mention that it has also taken a considerable emotional toll.
I would kindly ask that your office contact the USCIS and inquire what the status is on my petition and insist that it be expedited. Citizens who are attempting to bring their spouses to the United States within the confines of the law deserve better treatment from our government. Thank you very much for your time and your anticipated assistance.

Buddy first of all I am sorry. Second of all, I will tell you something you will NOT believe - you are actually lucky for a number of reasons, hard as it is to believe. # 1) There are many women who are much smarter than your ex because they would have made false allegations to the Police, not just to the CIS or a non profit, to substantiate their VAWA self petition better and the cops would have come and arrested you on her say so. The fact that you didn't go through that is a MAJOR plus for you. Believe me, it happens every day. Secondly, you have custody of your child... as a father... in America. Another big plus.
So now for the bad news. I know you want to get back at this woman for using you. Unfortunately, no one in our immigration system cares enough not to let this woman in, and the law is written to help her not you. Even if they put her in removal proceedings, she will just tell her weepy false story about what a monster you are to the Immigration Judge, who may or may not believe it, and even if the judge doesn't, it will be YEARS before she is removed. Chances are she will find another guy to marry her in the meantime and she will try to stay on the ground that your child, who is a US citizen, needs his mom and she should not be removed. As you have discovered, the system is designed to help her against all real and fictitious abusers and not you from being slandered as a wife beater or to be taken advantage of.
If I were you, and then again I am not so you have to choose for yourself, but I would do two things. I would let this go because you need to be a single dad which is challenging enough and you need to press the reset button on all this baggage this sociopath of a woman has caused you. She clearly never loved you and I am sure she was telling the other guy God knows what, maybe that your baby is his, or that she will sponsor him as soon as she has US citizenship, that she is suffering you just so they can be together in America. And chances are 100% of that was BS. If you are not a sociopath, you can't beat her at her own game, and you will go insane trying. Secondly, if you are the custodial parent, I would hit her with a child support order. It's good for your kid, and it is a measure of revenge. if she falls behind on payments and the CIS or the IJ actually look into this case, it will go some way to show that she is not the poor little abused victim if you have custody of the child and she is not living up to her parental responsibility. But beyond that, I would let it go. You should thank God, your lucky stars, or whatever Supreme Being you believe in, that you were taught a lesson to be more skeptical of people's motives without seeing the inside of a jail cell (I can't emphasize how real of a possibility this was for you, especially given her complete lack of a moral center. Good thing for you she is not smarter), that your child is with you, and that you can live life without her. Worrying ever day if your wife is sending naked pictures to some other guy on a daily basis is not the kind of emotional abuse anyone deserves to live under. I hope this helps.

Buddy first of all I am sorry. Second of all, I will tell you something you will NOT believe - you are actually lucky for a number of reasons, hard as it is to believe. # 1) There are many women who are much smarter than your ex because they would have made false allegations to the Police, not just to the CIS or a non profit, to substantiate their VAWA self petition better and the cops would have come and arrested you on her say so. The fact that you didn't go through that is a MAJOR plus for you. Believe me, it happens every day. Secondly, you have custody of your child... as a father... in America. Another big plus.
So now for the bad news. I know you want to get back at this woman for using you. Unfortunately, no one in our immigration system cares enough not to let this woman in, and the law is written to help her not you. Even if they put her in removal proceedings, she will just tell her weepy false story about what a monster you are to the Immigration Judge, who may or may not believe it, and even if the judge doesn't, it will be YEARS before she is removed. Chances are she will find another guy to marry her in the meantime and she will try to stay on the ground that your child, who is a US citizen, needs his mom and she should not be removed. As you have discovered, the system is designed to help her against all real and fictitious abusers and not you from being slandered as a wife beater or to be taken advantage of.
If I were you, and then again I am not so you have to choose for yourself, but I would do two things. I would let this go because you need to be a single dad which is challenging enough and you need to press the reset button on all this baggage this sociopath of a woman has caused you. She clearly never loved you and I am sure she was telling the other guy God knows what, maybe that your baby is his, or that she will sponsor him as soon as she has US citizenship, that she is suffering you just so they can be together in America. And chances are 100% of that was BS. If you are not a sociopath, you can't beat her at her own game, and you will go insane trying. Secondly, if you are the custodial parent, I would hit her with a child support order. It's good for your kid, and it is a measure of revenge. if she falls behind on payments and the CIS or the IJ actually look into this case, it will go some way to show that she is not the poor little abused victim if you have custody of the child and she is not living up to her parental responsibility. But beyond that, I would let it go. You should thank God, your lucky stars, or whatever Supreme Being you believe in, that you were taught a lesson to be more skeptical of people's motives without seeing the inside of a jail cell (I can't emphasize how real of a possibility this was for you, especially given her complete lack of a moral center. Good thing for you she is not smarter), that your child is with you, and that you can live life without her. Worrying ever day if your wife is sending naked pictures to some other guy on a daily basis is not the kind of emotional abuse anyone deserves to live under. I hope this helps.

yes I am a lawyer but my practice was 5% immigration and is starting to rise now with DACA and PWs. I expect it will rise further if the immigration reform bill is passed. And my "experience" also includes talking to other immigration lawyers and attending seminars on the topic of immigration law. I don't post my contact info on here because I am not on this board trying to solicit business. Just another guy in a similar boat with my fiancee and I appreciate the support while we all wait. So since this is your second terse reply to me today in two different threads, I would appreciate if you ease off before the mods become involved.